Personal Space
by Black Pichu
Summary: The one thing Khoury hated was people in his personal space. But he didn't mind when Lyra did it. (Khoury/Lyra)


**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Pokemon franchise and never will. This is a story I just wrote for fun because I'm a fan of Pokemon.**

**A/N: So, this is a random story I suddenly came up with one day. XD Even though Khoury and Lyra are pretty minor characters in the anime series, I still love them. They're adorable together. :D**

**Anyway, about this concept... I just thought that Khoury seems like the kind of guy that likes to have his personal space. And after rewatching the few episodes that they were in, I noticed Lyra gets close to him ****_a lot_****. After five minutes of brainstorming, I came up with this idea of how Khoury doesn't mind when Lyra violates his personal space. XD**

**I know this is short, but I kinda wanted this story to be that way. My oneshots lately have been pretty long and rather depressing (in my opinion, at least), so here's something short, sweet, and a bit funny. :)**

**I hope the flow of this story is okay. I wrote the second half of this story before the first half, since I had that part all planned out in my head from the start.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story!**

* * *

**Personal Space**

"That was an _awesome_ movie!" Lyra said cheerfully before turning to Khoury. "What did you think of it, Khoury?"

Her best friend chuckled nervously. "Honestly... I didn't think it was that great."

"What?" Marina asked, confusion and disappointment in her blue-green eyes. "Why? I thought it was really sweet."

"Well, I thought the special effects looked fake. And... I'm not really into romance."

Suddenly, Jimmy threw his arm around Khoury's shoulders, causing the younger boy to start in surprise. "I agree! The romance was so _lame_. And the actress that plays the girl isn't even hot. Right, Khoury?" He grinned.

Beads of sweat forming upon his forehead, Khoury tried to push Jimmy away; his older friend's grip was too tight. "C-could you back away a couple feet...?"

Lyra sulked, turning away from her male friends. _What is it with guys and romance? _she wondered.

"Jimmy," Vincent added, stepping over to Khoury's opposite side, "I don't think Khoury cares about how hot the actresses are. He's too smart for that." Resting his elbow on his younger friend's shoulder, he leaned his weight against him.

Jimmy glowered. "Are you saying I'm stupid, Vincent?"

"No, I'm just saying that he probably cares more about the special effects and plot and all that crap."

Khoury's face began to heat up, his eyebrows twitching uncontrollably in annoyance. "Guys, could you—"

The two boys continued their pointless argument, ignoring their younger male friend. Lyra turned to them, shooting them an irritated look. But her expression softened once she noticed Khoury. His face was red; his entire body was beginning to shake. Concern instinctively flooded through her. She had never seen her best friend like this before...

"Khour—" she began.

"_Get away from me_!" Khoury shouted, causing Jimmy and Vincent to literally jump away in surprise. The younger boy stepped away from them to stand beside Lyra; he growled and ran his hands roughly through his curly, dark green hair. "I can't _stand _having you guys breathing down my neck!"

Jimmy held up his hands in defense, chuckling nervously. "Sorry, Khoury."

"Yeah, honestly, we forgot about your personal space issues," Vincent added, rubbing the back of his neck.

With a huff of irritation, Khoury turned away from them as they began to talk amongst themselves. Lyra gazed at him in surprise. Though this wasn't the first time he showed discomfort when Jimmy and Vincent got too close to him, this _was_ the first time he had an angry outburst about it. Actually, this was the first time she ever saw him angry about _anything_.

"Are you okay, Khoury?" she asked.

Khoury nodded, heaving a sigh to cool himself down. "Yeah. I just... can't stand when people get in my personal space like that. I-it's something I've always hated..."

"It's fine! I understand." In an effort to reassure him, she rested her hand on his shoulder and leaned closer him, beaming.

He returned a sheepish smile. "Y-yeah..."

_Wait. _Realizing what she was doing, Lyra drew away from him, slowly as to not alarm him. She had just gone against Khoury's words and violated his personal space. So... why didn't he react?

And now that she considered it, a timeline of the years they had known each other streamed in her mind, and there were almost hundreds of times when she had gotten close to Khoury in the same manner. Every time, he didn't react at all, other than the mixed expression of nervousness and surprise that displayed on his face—though that was typical of Khoury.

_How come he doesn't care when I'm in his personal space, but he does when anybody else does it? _she wondered.

"Lyra?" Khoury said. "Is something wrong?"

Lyra started, snapping back to reality. She waved her hand, giggling. "Oh, uh... yeah, I'm fine! I was just thinking about something, that's all."

"Oh... okay."

She sighed. _Maybe I'll ask him about it later._

* * *

"Khoury!" Lyra rushed up behind Khoury later that day, who was heading toward the outskirts of New Bark Town. Leaping, she threw her arms around his torso, causing him to start and almost drop the lemonade can he had in hand. She poked her head over his shoulder; when his wide, dark brown eyes met hers, she winked.

"Oh," he muttered as a smile stretched across his face. "Hey, Lyra."

"So, what'cha doin'?" she asked. He continued to walk down the dirt path; she followed alongside him, exiting the small town.

"Just going for a walk. Drinking lemonade." He held up the yellow can, lightly shaking it from side to side. The liquid sloshed around inside the aluminum.

Lyra nodded, and it was silent as they continued walking. While Khoury gazed at the late afternoon sky, her eyes were downcast shyly, watching her red sneakers as she placed each foot in front of the other. _Why am I so nervous? _she wondered. _It's _Khoury_ I'm talking to. I can just come right out and ask him..._

"Hey... Khoury?" she spoke up. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

Scowling, she punched him in the shoulder. "Don't be a smartass!"

He chuckled to hide the pain that she inflicted on him. As if brushing it off, he quickly ran his hand over his shoulder. "Sure. You can ask me anything, Lyra."

"Remember earlier, when Jimmy and Vincent were hanging all over you and you got mad?"

His eyebrow twitched. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Well... when _they _do it, you get mad. But when I get close to you like that... it doesn't seem to bother you." She turned to him, curiosity in her brown eyes. "Why is that?"

Khoury took a sip of his lemonade. Even when he drew the now-empty can away from his lips, he remained silent, dark brown eyes gazing up at the sky as the sunset painted the turquoise expanse with shades of orange, yellow, and pink.

"I really never thought about that," he finally answered. "It's sort of an instinct, I guess. It... might be because I've always been closer to you than I am with Jimmy and Vincent."

"You haven't known them any longer than you've known me, though."

He chuckled. "True. But... it doesn't really have anything to do with how _long _I've known them." Smiling, he faced her, his cheeks burning a light shade of pink. "It's because... I'm _closer _to you, Lyra."

Lyra gasped, her eyes widening. "Really, Khoury?"

He nodded. "Of course."

After taking a second to think about his statement, a smile stretched across her face. She giggled. "Khoury... you're making it sound as if you like me or something!"

"Well, I do like you, Lyra."

Her laughter stopped, and she faced him, surprised.

At that moment, Khoury realized what he had said. His face flushed. "Er, no... Lyra, that's not what I meant!" he stammered. In his panic, his hands were suddenly everywhere: flailing in front of him; running through his curly, dark green hair; awkwardly adjusting his green polo shirt.

_Still a nervous wreck, as always, _Lyra thought. "Khoury."

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean— What I meant was—"

"_Khoury_."

Once he managed to calm down somewhat, he whipped his head around to look at her, anxiety painted upon his facial features. But all signs of distress evaporated when Lyra's lips came into contact with his for a brief moment.

When she pulled away, they simply stared at each other: Khoury with wide, dark brown eyes; Lyra with a small smile and a light blush across her face.

"Don't worry about it, Khoury," she said with a wink. "Because maybe—just maybe—I like you, too!"

_**The End**_

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**A/N: I miss these two. :'( I wish the creators of the anime would bring them back; even if they just had a small cameo appearance, I'd be happy. I mean, when they left Sinnoh and returned to Johto, they ****_did _****tell Ash, Dawn, and Brock that they would see them again. And then we never hear anything about either of them again. -.- I still have hope, though!**

**Well, thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!**

**~Hayley**

_**Note: Please refer to the notice on my profile before reviewing.**_


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